Demonstrators In Turkey Mark 13th Anniversary Of PKK Leader Arrest

DEMONSTRATORS IN TURKEY MARK 13TH ANNIVERSARY OF PKK LEADER ARREST

PanARMENIAN.Net
February 16, 2012 – 11:55 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Demonstrators took to the streets on Feb 15 to mark
the 13th anniversary of the capture of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed
leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), clashing with
police in Istanbul and in the southeastern province of Å~^ırnak,
Hurriyet Daily News reported.

Shops in many provinces across the country’s southeast remained closed
throughout the day, as security forces took strict measures against
banned demonstrations. Public transportation also came to a halt in
Diyarbakır and Hakkari, according to reports.

Riot police took some 30 people into custody in Istanbul’s Taksim
Square, including Asiye Kolcak and Ali Rıza Bilgili from the Peace
and Democracy Party (BDP), after a group of 40 demonstrators held a
sit-in protest on Bekar Street. Protesters and police in exchanged
barrages of blast bombs, rocks, molotov cocktails, pressurized water
and tear gas in Å~^ırnak.

PKK leader Ocalan has remained behind bars at a prison on İmralı
Island for the past 13 years. He was captured in Nairobi, Kenya, Feb.

15, 1999.

Throughout his stay at the island prison in the Sea of Marmara, Ocalan
has met with his lawyers nearly 600 times, and with relatives around
200 times, the Dogan news agency reported yesterday. On Nov. 17, 2009,
five prisoners, four of them convicted PKK members, were transferred
to İmralı to accompany Ocalan.

The İmralı Prison is kept under surveillance by 55 cameras, while the
prison and the island’s security is served by a staff of over 1,000,
a figure which includes SAS commandoes.

Ocalan, who has lost 20 kilograms since he was transferred to İmralı,
has frequently complained of respiratory infections.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress